Bishop McDevitt Coach Jeff Weachter Reaches 300 Career Wins

The Crusaders coach has Bishop McDevitt headed back to the Class 5A state semifinals; PIAA state playoffs rewind

Bishop McDevitt head coach Jeff Weacther, seen leading the Crusaders in the PIAA Class 5A title game last season, led the Crusaders to a win over Solanco Friday night. It was his 300th career win. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bishop McDevitt was able to knock off a few historical milestones Friday night in Warwick. The Crusaders beat Solanco, 38-20, in the District 3 Class 5A title to capture their 19th district crown. With the win, Crusaders coach Jeff Weachter reached the 300-win milestone.

Weachter is the 22nd high school football coach to reach that total in Pennsylvania. Bishop McDevitt is the defending state champions and will play the winner of the WPIAL championship game between Pine-Richland and Peters Township next week in the state semifinals.

Weachter spent five seasons as the coach at Lebanon Catholic and before taking over at Bishop McDevitt in 1988. The Crusaders also won the Class 4A state championship in 2022, beating Aliquippa, 41-18.

Maurice Barnes scored two touchdowns for Bishop McDevitt (11-2).

Harrisburg collects another District 3, 6A title

The Cougars rolled over Central York and set up a heavyweight matchup in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals next week. Harrisburg (13-0) will take on Pittsburgh Central Catholic for a chance to appear in the championship game for the third time since the PIAA expanded to six classes in 2016.

Messiah Mickens piled up more than 200 yards on the ground and scored twice for Harrisburg.

The Cougars lost their two previous appearances in the state title game, in 2018 and 2022, to St. Joseph's Prep. This was the fifth consecutive District 3 crown for Harrisburg.

Johnson sets Farrell record for touchdowns

Juelz Johnson is now the all-time touchdown king for the Steelers' football program. Johnson scored five times to help Farrell beat Richland, 32-14, in a Class 2A quarterfinal Friday night at Armstrong High School.

Johnson has 79 career touchdowns after scoring five in the Steelers' win. The record-breaking score came on a 5-yard run in the second quarter.

District 10 champion Farrell (10-2) will get the winner of Seton LaSalle and Steel Valley in the semifinals.

Bishop Guilfoyle holds on against Westinghouse

The defending Class A state champions got all the offense they needed to knock off Westinghouse on the first possession of the game. Jacob Kissell capped the Marauders' opening drive with a touchdown run that stood up in a 7-6 win at River Valley.

Westinghouse scored its lone touchdown in the second quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by K'Shawn Hawkins.

The Bulldogs got the ball to the Bishop Guilfoyle 1-yard line, but fumbled with 2.3 second remaining in the third quarter.

Quips march on

Aliquippa was the No. 7 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Now, the Quips are headed back to the state semifinals. Aliquippa clipped District 10 champion Oil City at Slippery Rock University.

Qa'lil Goode returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown for the Quips.

Trinity wins one late

The Shamrocks scored two touchdowns in the final 88 seconds to steal a win in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Trinity, the District 3 champions, beat Neumann-Goretti 26-22 after Mason Boyer scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 11.5 seconds remaining.

Trinity was trailing 22-14 when Boyer through a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon Nimmons with 1:28 remaining. After a failed two-point conversion, the Shamrocks had to attempt an onside kick.

Trinity got the right bounce and had Marcus Yeager to recover on the Neumann-Goretti 45.

--Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo